Jim Finegan attended the University of Illinois for undergraduate school and Northwestern University for Law School. He moved to Bloomington, Illinois after graduating law school and he has over 40 years experience. He specializes in bankruptcy, real estate, and civil litigation.

Cari is a licensed attorney in the States of New York, Illinois, New Jersey, and Connecticut while being licensed in the District of Columbia. Cari is a general practitioner with concentrations in food/agriculture law, family/matrimonial law, civil litigation, estate planning and mediation. Rincker Law, PLLC has offices in New York City and Champaign, Illinois. Cari is a member of the Association for the Bar in the City of New York's Matrimonial Law Committee. Before starting Rincker Law, PLLC, Cari was an associate at Budd-Falen Law Offices, LLC in Cheyenne, Wyoming where her broad practice...

Ryan Bradley focuses his practice primarily on civil litigation including mass torts, especially defective medical devices and drugs, automobile accidents, wrongful death, medical negligence, products liability, and general personal injury. He is also involved in class action litigation as well as business litigation. He is leading the Syngenta Corn and Invokana litigation for Koester & Bradley, LLP and is developing the Firm's business consulting practice. Ryan leads the firm's mass tort and business litigation team and has been devoting much of his time to pursuing claims arising out of the defective metal hip prosthesis system. He...

John L. GreenLeaf, Jr. has been in practice over 37 years representing consumers and businesses in Central Illinois. The firm concentrates in all forms of Bankruptcy, Business formation, and the preparation of Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning and administration of Probate Estates and Guardianships.

Richard T. West has been practicing law for over forty-one years. He has been a shareholder of Meyer Capel for over half of his career, having practiced in other firms in the community prior to joining Meyer Capel in 1991 as a shareholder. Throughout much of his career, his focus has been in the areas of complex litigation involving, for example, intellectual property, construction, banking, products liability, contract disputes and corporate and fiduciary obligations, as well as business representation, construction law, and health care law. In recent years, he has begun to shift his focus from an active litigation practice...

EXPERIENCE
Mr. Davis’ experience ranges from helping clients with all issues surrounding their start-up venture to assisting clients with the purchase or sale of multi-million dollar businesses.
Mr. Davis concentrates his legal practice in the following areas:
•representing corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships in connection with the legal matters these entities may face, including initial incorporation/organization, corporate governance issues, drafting and review of contracts and leases, licensing issues, securities issuances and debt financing transactions
•representing clients with the sale or purchase of a business, including due diligence matters and the negotiation and documentation of the transaction
•representing clients, both lenders and borrowers, in debt...

Randy Green is a shareholder in Meyer Capel’s Business and Real Estate Practice Groups. His unique experience allows him to serve not only as legal counsel, but as a trusted business advisor to his clients.
Experience
Mr. Green has represented both public and private companies ranging from top U.S. financial institutions to single-member LLCs in a variety of transactions such as mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, private equity investments, financing, entity formation, franchising, and leasing. He has also helped organizational and individual clients sell, purchase and lease various types of real estate across the U.S.
Before he began his legal career, Mr....

Colleen C. M. Ramais joins Meyer Capel’s litigation team as a full-time associate after serving a two-year judicial clerkship with the Honorable Justice Rita B. Garman of the Illinois Supreme Court.
Colleen graduated summa cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law with her juris doctorate in 2010. As a law student, she was named to the Dean's List for all six law school semesters and was awarded the Celia M. Howard Fellowship for graduate study from the Illinois Federation of Business and Professional Women. She is a ten-time recipient of the CALI Excellence for the Future Award for...

Joseph D. Murphy is currently the president of Meyer Capel. Following law school and a two-year clerkship with a federal district court judge, Mr. Murphy began his practice with a Wall Street law firm, gaining substantial experience in trademark licensing and intellectual property litigation. Subsequently, he moved to a Washington, D.C.-based firm, where his practice concentrated in franchise litigation and counseling. Since returning to Champaign-Urbana in 1994 to join Meyer Capel, he has focused his practice on a combination of intellectual property (including franchise licensing) and telecommunications.

Steven A. Amjad brings extensive experience in many aspects of legal practice to the clients of Meyer Capel. Over the last several years he has practiced litigation including complicated commercial litigation, personal injury, toxic tort defense and criminal defense.

Forrest Heyman joined the firm as a summer associate in 2011 and became an associate attorney following his admission to the Illinois Bar in 2012. His areas of practice include business planning, corporate transactions, real estate, and estate planning and administration.
Forrest is a locally-raised attorney with an international perspective. Hailing from Paxton, Illinois, Forrest attended Butler University from 2005 to 2008, where he earned a bachelor of science in economics, with honors. Following a semester in Hong Kong, Forrest was named Sigma Nu National Man of the Year and joined The Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington, where he...

For most people, the purchase of a home is the largest single investment they will ever make, and naturally, they're nervous about it. They want someone trustworthy to lean on, someone knowledgeable to handle the paperwork, someone well-versed in legal matters to represent them at the closing. They want someone like Harold Adams.
With his dual background in finance and law, Harold brings a unique combination of skills to the table. In addition to a solid foundation in residential and commercial real estate transactions, Harold is well-grounded in general business matters, including the foundation of new corporations and partnerships and the...

As a former senior tax consultant for a former Big Eight accounting firm, and as a business school graduate, Todd Black is uniquely qualified to advise clients on legal matters pertaining to estate planning and administration and corporate/business planning. A practicing attorney in Champaign-Urbana since 1987, Mr. Black joined Meyer Capel in 1993.
Mr. Black received a bachelor of science in finance from the University of Illinois in 1983. He attended the University of Illinois on a full athletic scholarship and served as co-captain of the U of I's varsity tennis team. He was the recipient of numerous undergraduate honors, including...

David B. Sholem joined Meyer Capel in 1978 and was named as a shareholder of the firm in 1982. He graduated from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Mr. Sholem attended the University of Illinois College of Law and Case Western Reserve University’s School of Law where he obtained his Juris Doctor degree in 1978. He was admitted to the Illinois State Bar in 1978. Mr. Sholem’s professional affiliations include Champaign County (Illinois) Bar Association (former President), Illinois State Bar Association (Real Estate Section) and American Bar Association.
David Sholem has represented a number of real estate developers and...

Large corporations and small companies alike need sound legal advice from attorneys who understand the demands and dynamics of the business environment. Clients of Meyer Capel will find these skills in Matt C. Deering.
A native of Champaign-Urbana and a graduate of Champaign Central High School, Mr. Deering holds a bachelor of arts in economics from the University of Kentucky and a juris doctorate from Ohio Northern University. He joined the firm in 1994 as a law clerk and became a full-time associate in 1996 and a shareholder on January 1, 2003.
In addition to handling general corporate and business law concerns,...

Since joining the firm in 1970, Francis J. (Jerry) Jahn has been responsible for building and expanding the business practice of Meyer Capel. He served as President of the firm from January 1999 until December 2010.
A 1967 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, Jerry was winner of the Frederick M. Green Moot Court Competition and the Horner Cup and Waterman Prize for Excellence in Moot Court Competition as a law student. He was also recipient of the Harno Scholarship.
Jerry is a member of the Illinois State and Champaign County Bar Associations. He served on CCBA's board of...

Evan Coobs is a shareholder in Meyer Capel's business and transactional practice group. A practicing attorney since 1989, he has been with Meyer Capel since 1996, and a shareholder of the firm since 1998. He regularly works with other lawyers as cost-effective and trusted co-counsel and local counsel.
Experience
There is no substitute for experience. Mr. Coobs' experience ranges from assisting developers of affordable housing, to in-house work for a multinational manufacturing company, to helping start-up clients negotiate their first commercial lease, to parsing through the details of complex financing arrangements, including syndicated loan transactions.
Mr. Coobs' practice is focused in the...

Business Lawyers in Nearby Counties

Business laws include all municipal, state, and federal laws that regulate businesses and commerce. Some industries, such as finance, face specific laws and regulations that apply to those in the field. Businesses of all types also must conform to many regulations that apply across the board, such as environmental regulations and advertising laws.

A business lawyer can help you address the myriad legal issues that arise when you are starting a new venture, operating an established company, or winding up or selling a business.

Business lawyers handle a broad spectrum of legal issues that confront companies. For new ventures, a business lawyer can help with business formation decisions, including selecting the proper business form, such a partnership, LLC or corporation, or addressing financial compliance issues when raising capital. In addition, business lawyers can offer advice when reviewing leases, purchase agreements, and other types of contracts. Other issues covered in this practice area include employee compensation and benefits, building relationships with independent contractors and other entities, and compliance with relevant advertising regulations.

While most business lawyers deal in transactional work (contracts and forms), some also litigate business disputes that arise from transactional work. Business litigation attorneys may handle issues such as breach of contract claims, consumer class action lawsuits, and wrongful termination claims.

Business judgment rule:
a presumption that directors making a business decision, not involving self-interest, act on an informed basis, in good faith and in the honest belief that their actions are in the corporation's best interest.

Pierce the veil:
A court no longer affords a shareholder of a corporation the protection of limited liability when the corporation has neglected corporate formalities and intermingled assets between the shareholder and the corporation.